Netflix’s ‘Neon’ Captures the Making of a Reggaetonero — This Is the Song That Starts It All
A reggaeton star is about to be born. On Thursday, Netflix will premiere Neon, a comedy show that follows rising reggaetón star Santi, played by Tyler Dean Flores, as he moves to Miami to pursue his music dreams after his song “Exagerao” goes viral online. Ahead of the scripted show’s premiere, Rolling Stone exclusively premieres the music video for the song that catapults Santi.
“The music video is one of the first times we see Santi do his thing, showing off his talent but also his charm,” the show’s director Oz Rodriguez tells Rolling Stone of the visual, which sees Flores channeling Rauw Alejandro-energy at a house party.
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Rodriguez says directing the video for “Exagerao” brought him back to his days shooting music videos while he worked on Saturday Night Live. “It was fun to step back into that mode where you are trying to capture the vibe of the song,” he says. “My favorite part of doing the music video was that Tyler was locked and loaded. Once the camera was rolling he was Santi.”
“I just had to make sure the cameras had the lens cap off, and we were capturing his performance,” Rodriguez adds.
Neon follows Flores as Santi, alongside his best friends, Emma Ferreira as Ness and Jordan Mendoza as Felix, Santi’s creative director, as they seek a label signing in Miami. Along the way are love stories, PR couples, and even appearances from Daddy Yankee, Jowell of Jowell y Randy, Villano Antillano, and Jhayco.
“Exagerao,” and all of the music featured on Neon, was executive produced by Tainy and One Six.
The eight-episode series was co-created by Shea Serrano and Max Searle, who’s also the showrunner. Serrano and Searle executive produced the project, along with SB Projects, Anna Clements, and Daddy Yankee. Journalists Suzy Exposito and Reggaeton Con La Gata worked as key consultants on the show.
“Having a show that features so many Latino creatives involved in the storytelling lets us not only see ourselves on screen but also allows us to be part of the creative process,” Rodriguez says.
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